Adjustable yarn guide



Sept. 23, 1947. E. K. WHITENER ADJUSTABLE, YARN GUIDE Filed Jan. 15,1945 INVENTOR: l'meslln. Wzz'iezzer, W

ATTORNEYS.

Patented Sept. 23, 1947 ADJUSTABLE YARN GUIDE Ernest K. Whitener,Gastonia, N. 0., assignor to Cooker Machine and Foundry Company,Gastonia, N. C., a corporation of North Carolina Application January 15,1945, Serial No. 572,765

8 Claims.

This invention relates to adjustable yarn guides useful in connectionwith textile machinery such as warpers, beaming units and slashers. Morespecifically it is concerned with yarn guides in which links of lazytongs carry means which afford spaced guide intervals for passage of theyarns, adjustment of the combs being effected by expansion orcontraction of the lazy tongs. With mechanism heretofore devised foreffecting adjustment in such structures, difiiculty has been experienceddue to looseness of the parts or to wear in the pivots, in securinguniform movement as between the crossed link members of the lazy tongsthroughout the length of the devices so that the spacing of the yarnswas irregular which consequently precluded even winding of the yarnsonto the beams.

My invention has for its chief aim to overcome the above difiiculty,that is to say, to insure the impartation of uniform movement to all thecomponent bar members of the lazy tongs as the comb is being expanded orcontracted to adjust the yarn spacing. How the foregoing desideratum andother advantages can be readily realized in practice will appear fromthe following detailed description of the attached drawings, wherein,

Fig. 1 is a view showing my improved expansible guide comb in top plan.

Fig. 2 shows the structure in side elevation.

Fig. 3 shows a fragmentary portion of the device in longitudinalsection;

Fig. 4 is a cross section of the device taken as indicated by the angledarrows IVIV in Fig. 1; and

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary detail section taken as indicated by the angledarrows VV in Fig. 3.

As herein exemplified, my improved expansion comb comprises an elongatedlongitudinally slotted support Ill whereon is mounted a lazy tongscomprehensively designated II, the latter being composed of crossedpairs of links l2, 13, which pairs are pivotally connected to each otherat their outer ends as at l5 and I6 respectively. Adjacent links l2 andI3 of the two sets are moreover pivoted to each other centrally as atI1. Sustained in clevised bosses 18 on the links l3 are bars [9, eachprovided with a series of evenly spaced studs 20 in the intervalsbetween adjacent pairs of which the individual yarns to be guided arepassed as indicated by the broken yarn Y in Fig. 1.

Confined, to endwise movement in the longitudinal slot of the support I0 are slide blocks 2| respectively with central upstanding projectionswhich serve as the .pivots ll for the crossed links l2, I3 ofthe-lazy-tongs I I. As shown in Figs. 1-4, sleeves 22 with oppositelythreaded ends engage correspondingly tapped holes 23 in adjacent slideblocks 2|, said sleeves being formed at their centers with gear collars25 whereof the teeth mesh with those of a .commonlongitudinallyextending actuating pinion rod 26. The trunnion ends 2'!and 28 (Figs. 1 and 2) of the pinion rod 26 are rotatably engaged inbearings 29 and 30 at the opposite ends of the support I0, and to theirprotruding portions are secured operating hand cranks 3i and 32. It isto be noted from Fig. 4 that the pinion rod 26 extends freely throughclearance openings 33 in the slide blocks 2| immediately below thetapped holes 23 in said blocks. The contiguous ends of adjacent sleeves22 of the series are opposedly threaded internally and engaged by thecorresponding oppositely threaded ends of screw shank elements 35,which, midway of their lengths are provided with squared collars 36 thatsnugly lit the slot of the support [0. As best shown in Figs. 3 and 5the block 36 of the element 35 at the center of the series is securedagainst movement by a transverse pin 31 while the others are left freeto slide in the slot of the support [0 when the comb is adjusted in themanner about to be explained.

By virtue of the described construction, it will be seen that rotationof the actuating pinion shaft 26 in one direction will be attended byexpansion, or lengthening, of the lazy tongs II, and that rotation inthe other direction will result in contraction or shortening of saidtongs with corresponding variation of the spacing of the yarns y as theypass through the comb. Due to the direct individual control of thecenter pivots ll of the lazy tongs [I through the medium of theinterthreaded sleeve and shank elements 22 and 35, it necessarilyfollows that the expansion or contraction of the device will be uniformthroughout its length with assurance against the possibility ofirregularities in the spacing of the yarns which are being guidedthrough the comb, and that by reason of the pinning of the shank element35 at the center of the series the expansion or contraction will takeplace in opposite directions from the center of the comb.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. An adjustable yarn guide for textile machinery including a lazy tongswith means on component links thereof providing spaced guide intervalsfor passage of individual yarns; a longitudinally movable slide for thecentral pivot of each crossed pair of links of the lazy tongs; separatescrew elements each with a right and a lefthand thread individuallycommon to and connecting adjacent pairs of the slides; and operatingmeans for concurrently rotating all the screw elements in one directionor the other to expand or contract the comb.

2. The invention according to claim 1, wherein the operating meanscomprises a longitudinally extending actuating shaft and gearconnections between said shaft and the several screw elements.

3. The invention according to claim 1 further including a longitudinallyslotted support to which the slides are confined.

4. An adjustable yarn guide for textile machinery including a lazy tongswith means on component links thereof providing spaced guide intervalsfor passage of individual yarns; longitudinally movable slides to whichcrossed pairs of the lazy tongs links are centrally pivoted; tubularscrew elements with external right and lefthand threads at opposite endsengaging correspondingly tapped holes in adjacent pairs of the slides;non-rotative screw shank elements with oppositely threaded ends engagingcorresponding internal threads in the contiguous ends of adjacent pairsof the tubular screw elements; and operating means for concurrentlyrotating all the said tubular elements in one direction or the other toexpand or contract the comb.

5. The invention according to claim 4, wherein the operating meanscomprises a longitudinally extending actuating shaft and gearconnections between said shaft and the several tubular screw elements.

6. The invention according to claim 4, wherein the operating meanscomprises a longitudinally extending actuating shaft with gear teethextending lengthwise thereof, and pinion collars centrally of therespective tubular screw elements in mesh with the teeth of said shaft.

'7. The invention according to claim 4, further including alongitudinally slotted support to which the slides are confined, andwherein the screw shank elements are provided medially with squaredportions which fit the slot of said support.

8. The invention according to claim 4, further including alongitudinally slotted support to which the slides are confined; whereinthe screw shank elements are provided medially with squared portionswhich fit the slot of the support; and wherein the central screw shankelement of the series is secured against endwise movement in the slot ofsaid support.

ERNEST K. WHITENER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name' Date 2,048,974 Smith July 28, 1936FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 29,202 Great Britain 1904 798,650France Mar. 10, 1936

